Quote WARRIORCRAIG="WARRIORCRAIG"If we have to start doing a double header for the semis then the cup's finished IMO. 30k at the Etihad still leaves 15k empty seats, and everyone wouldn't sit through both games anyway. The long gap between the rounds is stupid, but that surely shouldn't affect ticket sales?'"
Why? It would add another event to the RL calandar. The current semi-finals are total non-events, they actually make the sport look bad.
The only empty seats would be on the top tier IMO. If Wigan played in the first semi-final, would people not stay on to see who we will meet in the final? Especially if the other game involved big teams.
For the earlier rounds I would like to see all games involving a team from a lower league being played at the home of the lower placed team. The crowds at super league grounds are generally poor and the revenue and exposure for the smaller clubs would be great to see.
Wigan will have around 6k at the game while Leeds will have less than that. It is poor from Leeds considering they are only 26mins away from the stadium while Wigan is 56mins according to google maps.
We would have taken close to 10k had this game been at Langtree park IMO. This is the kind of game which should sell-out a stadium like that, but because of the planning from the RFL and the lack of marketing... this game will have a worse crowd than a regular league game between the two teams.